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Today was my Canon C300’s first day earning her keep, filming in a bottling factory. She was a joy to use and if the old daylight got a bit hot all I had to do was flip in 2 stops of ND.

After the filming I was de-rigging the camera when I had a problem taking the monitor off the cold shoe, after a bit of brain scratching I discovered that Canon had built in a nice safety feature into the monitor itself.

Basically as you screw the monitor down onto the cold shoe it deploys a pin to make sure the monitor cannot accidentally fall off the hand grip which is a great feature as long as you are aware of it. To unscrew the monitor you need to turn it CLOCKWISE.

I realise its not rocket science but this wee gem of information may prevent one of you trying to force your monitor off the handle thinking as I did that it had become stuck. Fortunately I had time to decipher the problem as it was at the end of the shoot but a timely warning never to force anything out of its holder.

This is the screen on my iPad from the Canon C300 Wi-Fi remote via the WFT-E6. Thanks to Canon UK I have a loan of a Wi-Fi dongle to test for all you C300 users.

The thing I love about the software is the ability to change any of the settings using the iPads touch screen, all the useful parts of the C300 at your finger tips, its like having a remote CCU (Camera control unit).

Remember this dongle is primarily used with the likes of the new Canon 1Dx DSLR and the focus function seen above does not work with the C300…OR DOES IT !

Just had an email from Nick Milne of Canon who tells me if I have an EF lens switched to AF the “FOCUS” actually works…just put this to the test and amazing you get the ability to focus the lens.

Now with the slight delay in picture focusing becomes a lottery but if you add an external monitor feed from the HD SDI or hook a Zacuto EVF onto the HDMI you get a lag free picture.

This feature could be very useful in a hazardous environment or for wildlife filming.

Further to my on going review Canon tell me that the dongle is capable of producing its own WI-Fi hotspot so this feature will work even in the desert !…fantastic. Once Canon relay that information I will show you how to setup a Wi-Fi hotspot via the C300 and post it on www.c300user.co.uk

UPDATE : You seemingly make an adhoc connection which is fine but after a lot of time spent this evening I did not manage to make the C300 talk to my iPad 2 so I will contact Canon tomorrow and get a template for the Wi-Fi hotspot connection and pass it on.

Further update : The chap from Canon won’t be back till Wednesday.

Last update : The WFT E6 went on the blink, remember it was a pre production model, I was hoping to show you how to make an adhoc connection and play with Metadata input but that will have to wait.

Downside is the slight delay in picture reaching the iPad it updates about 1fps, Tudor has asked if this could be used as a directors hand held remote monitor, yes if he or she is only using it for composition, shot length etc. Lip sync or moving shots…no ! I will ask Canon if the lag can be improved upon.

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For just over a year I have lived with the Panasonic AF101 then the Sony FS100, both cameras for around six months each. As a technical person the bug bear with both the Panasonic and the Sony was the lack of accurate aperture.

The Panasonic AF101 was my first step down the large sensor road and at the time I loved the camera but the lack of resolution (800 lines) and mish mosh of lenses made me rethink my ideas when the Sony F3 became available.

I used the Sony F3 along side the AF101 during an NHS job and the resolution was night and day not to mention the low light capabilities of the F3, when the Sony FS100 came along I was not so keen as the lack of ND was appalling and a technical nightmare.

The resolution and stunning pictures persuaded me to jump ship to the Sony FS100 and you get to work around the ND, firstly with resin filters then when they became more commercially available the costly vari-fader ND filters.

I was now totally committed to using Nikon glass but that fatal decision taken by Mr Nikon all those years ago to have the lens focus anti clockwise is fine when used as a photographic tool but a total mess when used manually with a large sensor camera.

ENG camera men and women are programmed to pull focus clockwise from an early age and if you dare to go against the grain you start loosing good shots and more importantly cocking up interviews as you automatically pull focus the wrong way with Nikon glass.

No other camera on the large sensor market comes close to the Canon C300 for choice of quality dedicated glass that does not need an adapter or a bolt on recorder just to attain 50Mb/s.

Thats the C300s magical ingredient and why both Sony and Panasonic will find it hard to compete, Nikon glass is very sharp but the anti-clockwise focusing is a major turn off as is a camera dedicated to PL glass unless you can afford the £4K per lens asking price.

Canon have nailed it with the C300 EF camera and no matter what Sony or Panasonic produce they will always be fighting against the dedicated EF mount seen on the C300…a very powerful and clever move by Canon.

Alister Chapman “But you do forget about the EF lens Achilles heel which is the way the iris steps in small increments as opposed to smooth iris step less iris control that you can get with a Nikon lens or PL lens. So no exposure changes mid shot with an EF lens”

Give me a Canon EF lens every time, Nikon on an adapter plus focusing anticlockwise is a non starter and if you are willing to pay £4K for a PL lens you would expect it to have a manual iris.

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CVP in London were the victims of one of the biggest thefts in the industry on Friday when £1 million of gear was stolen from their warehouse. This is from their website:

We’re disappointed to report that on Friday 17th February 2012 CVP became the victim of one of the industry’s largest thefts when a substantial quantity of cameras, camcorders, lenses and ancillaries with a street value of around £1M was stolen from our warehouse.

BE CAREFUL WHAT YOU BUY:
If the goods aren’t recovered by the Police then it is very likely that this equipment will end up on the open market. Therefore to help safegard our customers (and competitors) from the associated risks we have today launched an on-line Stolen Equipment Register where you can easily enter as serial number and ascertain whether it’s been stolen from us or reported as stolen from elsewhere.

BUSINESS AS USUAL!
Whilst the loss is substantial, we are fortunate to be a large and resourceful organisaton which remains fully operational. Please be assured that the effect on our ability to fulfil orders is minimal as we are already working closely with our key partners to replenish ‘lost’ stock on an accelerated basis.

The amount of gear is huge, 40 XF300/305s, 5 C300s, 9 F3, 12 Z5/Z7s and so much more as you can see below.

Its simple Canon C300 are like gold dust, as of a conversation with Canon today they are finding it very hard to keep up with demand so a spare five C300 cameras will stand out like a sore thumb, do not be tempted to buy any cheap C300s !

Only last week Phil Baxter, the MD of CVP was talking to me about the video industry in general and we also reflected on the great loss of Kevin O’Malley of JVC and how short life is.

Lets hope they get the gang who perpetrated this theft and innocents like Paul Joy can finally get his Canon C300, one of the cameras stolen last Friday.

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I hate HD footage for uploading with a passion…twice over the space of 10 hours I have tried to update my Canon C300 HD video and it “encountered a problem”. I am uploading an SD version which I will embed meantime.

This is a part frame from the video of my wife at 15dBs with available light using a Carl Zeiss 50mm f1.4 T* lens.

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This is not only an iconic building but sadly the last time you will see BVE presented from here as the London planners have given permission to demolish it for prime housing stock.

Here is the new £1400 EcoFlood RL576 from RotoLight this gives off 1000 watts of light but only uses 38 watts due to the high efficiency LED panel. This light can give you accurate lighting using “Magic Eye” technology to accurately measure colour temperature and through Wi-Fi transmits colour settings from your iPhone/iPad to the light itself.

H Preston Media

This is a new “Tilta” DSLR/cinematic camcorder rig from H Preston Media and is being adapted to work with the Canon C300, the price will be around £2000 which includes the sexy carbon fibre matte box.

Its standard practice to include the master of Sony Vegas editing Zulqar Cheema who this year is in a Sherlock Holmes pose.

This is the new Manfrotto 502 tripod head and legs, once again utilising the Bridge Technology and the new red vari friction panning section. The list price is £429 plus vat, street price will be cheaper.

Finally one of the most influential men in the broadcast retail side of our business Mr Phil Baxter the MD of CVP. Phil and I go back a long way when I bought my very 1st NLE called Digisuite which used Speed Razor to cut on the timeline. It was around the year 1999 and cost a mere £12,000.

So there you have it that was BVE 2012 a very busy show and some major wheeling and dealing going on, the Canon C300 was the Super 35mm camera of the show and talking of such I have some cracking footage from various Canon lenses from the 8mm fisheye to the 400mm super telephoto lens for my C300 review.